The present invention relates to sound attenuating and thermal insulating wall and ceiling assemblies, and, in particular, to a sound attenuating and thermal insulating wall and ceiling assembly which utilizes sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members, with resilient cantilevered portions, for securing wall or ceiling boards to the framing members of the wall or ceiling assembly. The sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members extend along the length of the framing members with the resilient cantilevered portions of the sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members projecting outward from the framing members so that a) boards secured to the framing members through the sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members are spaced outwardly from the framing members and b) fasteners used to secure the boards to the sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members do not come in contact with or penetrate the framing members. This construction isolates the wall or ceiling boards from the framing members except through the resilient cantilevered portions of the sound attenuating or sound attenuating and thermal insulating members.
Various structures have been used in the wall and ceiling assemblies of buildings to attenuate sound and reduce the transmission of undesirable sounds through such wall and ceiling assemblies, especially in buildings such as apartment buildings, motels and hotels. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,324,615, issued Jun. 13, 1967, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,653, issued Oct. 12, 1971, disclose wall partitions which utilize channel shaped framing members having side flanges with a series of longitudinally spaced resilient wallboard engaging and supporting tabs to attenuate sound. U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,167, issued Aug. 3, 1976, discloses a wall partition wherein gaps are provided between the wall panels and the framing members. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,291, issued Dec. 11, 1984, discloses a wall assembly wherein sound attenuation within the wall assembly is enhanced by a bowed blanket of mineral fibers within the wall assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,651, issued Aug. 4, 1998, discloses a sound deadening wall assembly which utilizes a resilient attachment material to secure first and second stud members of the wall assembly to each other.
FIG. 9 shows a wall assembly currently used in the building industry which utilizes resilient sound attenuating members for decoupling the structural sound path in wood-stud, framed gypsum board partitions. As shown, the resilient sound attenuating members extend perpendicular to the lengths of the wood-stud framing members rather than along the lengths of the framing members. In the construction of the wall assembly, the resilient sound attenuating members must be carefully secured to the wood-stud framing members to extend horizontally so that, when gypsum boards are placed over the resilient sound attenuating members, the laborers will know where to place the fasteners securing the gypsum boards to the resilient sound attenuating members. Then, the fasteners securing the gypsum boards to the resilient sound attenuating members must be carefully screwed into the outer flanges of the members. The structure shown has proven to be an effective sound control measure. However, the added labor and time required for building these wall assemblies has made the use of such wall assemblies prohibitively expensive as a sound control measure in any instances and it is estimated that this type of structure is used for sound control in fewer than 10% of wood stud applications.